'There could be no completer proofs of how completely the popt-Tation of America' has "srown out of the unintelligent and undignified tetchiness of the 1840's than the publication of Mr, Nevinw's book, and the frank," sood-humoured, sensible comments with which haw interleaved his yelections. from the current British criticisms of the last bundyed and 30 years, Indeed, one hax a feeling, in reading Mr. ''Nevins's utterances, that it with a sly sense of humour that he transcribes some of "the more ferocious diatribes of Britis. writers on his country. When fof the present generation learn that in 1814 a publication of the status of the "Quarterly Review" could describe the American nation as "immoral, irreligious, literate, brutal, and ditty," it' is not, for America that we blush," When, re than 50 yearn ago, I frst read martin Chuzzlowit," could not help wondering if it could be true that Martin met only one decent human being. in all the months. he spent in the States; and when, 0 little later, L came upon Emerson's noble tribute to England, written fat about the same date as Diekens's story, x "the best of actual na~ tions," I. could but contrast the generosity of the American writer with the savage intolerance the Englishman—London Sunday Times."
The League of Nations permanent Commission on International Intel-actual Ca-operation has just set itself the task of preparing a list of the 600 greatest books in the world: The list is expected to serve the peoples of all nations and races in choosing for their reading and culture the books that the entire world from the bginning of civilization down has judged the most remarkable and the most important. The League's Commission is composed df the leading intellectuals of the world, including such personages as Mme.
Professor Einstein, Henri Bergson and Professor ' Gilbert Murray. So that the selection may be as universal as possible, the Commission has asked the national intellectual groups of each country to submit a list of the books that are considered the greatest that have been produced in their respective countries.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.